Figured this was the proper board to get some advice from fellow soccer enthusiasts. Let me give y'all some info about myself and you guys can give your recommendations/reasonings.
- I've mildly followed the EPL for 2 years now and want to become an avid fan of one team
- I want to root for a team that is similar to A&M in terms of die hard fandom but not seen as a "blue blood"
- As you can tell from my username, I like beer. I want a team that embraces the hooligan ways of fandom.

Thanks for the help.

Huddersfield Town

Yes, love this thread!

No team is like A&M. Dont try to pick the Aggies of the EPL. Pick a team with players you like. If you want to follow a big toy team (rich owner) than city or chelsea. Otherwise united, arsenal, liverpool, and Tottenham are good picks. Those teams will also give you European competition football and have top class attacking players.

Wolverhampton

So I know Tottenham and Arsenal are bitter rivals but both teams intrigue me. Can anyone go into some depth on the two and why I should support one and learn to hate the other?

Both clubs are at close to the same point. Arsenal have a better history (invincibles). Both clubs have similar budgets, stadiums and fan support. If you are an Arsenal fan you get to celebrate St Totteringhams day (when arsenal guarantee to finish above tottenham).

Yes I'm an arsenal fan, but I think Arsenals attack is going to be exciting this year. Our defense may be a bit leaky so games will be interesting.

heddleston said:

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Why would you want to opt for "EPL A&M" anyway? Youve been hurt enough. As an Everton fan(which isnt like A&M, its more like if t.u. continued on their sad trajectory for another 30 years) , I implore that you be free, enjoy watching a mega billionaire owned team ball all out on minnows. Whats great about the Premier League is that you can still pick between several of those!

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I thought about pointing this out as well! Though the most Aggie team sounds like Wolverhampton. Great support. Won some titles before the 60s. Trying to become relevant again.

Fair points. I just feel like I'm attracted to Arsenal and Tottenham. Which I know is weird b/c they hate each other. What are yalls opinions on those two?

Here4Beer said:

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Figured this was the proper board to get some advice from fellow soccer enthusiasts. Let me give y'all some info about myself and you guys can give your recommendations/reasonings.
- I've mildly followed the EPL for 2 years now and want to become an avid fan of one team
- I want to root for a team that is similar to A&M in terms of die hard fandom but not seen as a "blue blood"
- As you can tell from my username, I like beer. I want a team that I embraces the hooligan ways of fandom.

Thanks for the help.

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Not to be ugly or trite, but you don't need help finding your team. The greatness of having a team is finding one on your own. I would suggest this season you try and watch as many of the teams as possible and then read about their histories and players, then come to a team on your own.

Thank you for your insight. I think I know what team I'm leaning towards and it just feels right. I'm sure heartache and disappointment will accompany me soon enough.

Here4Beer said:

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Thank you for your insight. I think I know what team I'm leaning towards and it just feels right. I'm sure heartache and disappointment will accompany me soon enough.

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Just watch the matches for a few weeks and I'm sure you'll find the right team for you

If you are considering Arsenal (I'm a fan) then I'd suggest not letting today's match be the barometer as Man City will most likely win

If you're looking for the passionate support and large crowds but little success I'd say Newcastle would be your team. They draw 50k a game but were out of the premier league just 2 seasons ago. They have a great manager and terrible ownership which is holding them back. They also are not a big risk to get relegated again unlike a lot of smaller clubs like Huddersfield and Brighton types who have a similar mentality.

Die hard fandom but not a blue blood would be a lot of teams but I think Tottenham would be the best pick with everything you said. Really good team that can't quite win the whole thing. They're really fun to watch as well.

I like to pick an underdog as well so I've been a Southampton fan for a long time too.

Chelsea may have the best hooligan group...so they like beer.

Just choose a team based on if you like watching them play. For most people who aren't from England, usually its a certain player or two happen to play for a team, then you become a fan of the team in the process. A lot of people on the board chose Fulham because there were about 3-4 Americans playing at one point over a 5 year stretch.

The thing I cant personally stand, is anyone over here acting like we are part of any rivalry the clubs have. We aren't from those neighborhoods or cities, don't talk **** just enjoy good soccer.

edit, from what you have said, I would choose Arsenal

I appreciate the insight fellas.

From Bill Simmons a very old read but pretty funny

http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719

Raggie21 said:

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were out of the premier league just 2 seasons ago.

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This is another reality you'll have to deal with. Newcastle going down for a year was more of a fluke than anything, but it can happen.

The clubs that really don't run this risk are: Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, ManU, Man City, Liverpool, Everton (I say this as an Everton supporter. Every now and again we threaten to pull a Newcastle, but it hasn't happened and now we have enough new money and a new stadium on the horizon to make that completely true). The rest go in cycles though some have stints where they appear strong. Newcastle probably really should be on that list, but you see what happened a few years back.

Same thing for any club, really. Look at Nottingham Forest. 2x Champions League winners and now just floundering around in the Championship with trips back and forth to League One.

And Leeds United. They swung big, whiffed, and the lack of financial result has turned a relegation proof club into a regular in the Championship.

So whatever you pick, enjoy the ride.

Oh, one last thought -- if you're ever planning on going to a game, location might be important. From Houston, there are direct flights to London and Manchester. The Manchester flight is on Singapore air, so it is very pricey. I went to the merseyside derby at Goodison Park about a year and a half ago. Liverpool is surprisingly more work to get to than I would have assumed. It has an airport, but it is small and generally expensive, so most people just use Manchester or take the train.

Are the Singh air flights that expensive? Last I look they were consistently cheaper than United into Manchester (my wife's family is from Liverpool).

The two clubs that I'd really like to see back in the PL are Wednesday and Forest. We could boot out Cardiff and Brighton. Maybe swap another Midlands team in as well. Either West Brom or Villa.

ChipFTAC01 said:

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Are the Singh air flights that expensive? Last I look they were consistently cheaper than United into Manchester (my wife's family is from Liverpool).

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Ever hear the saying, "once you go _______, you never go back"?

Well I went business class and I can't go back. It's really hard to get that Singapore upgrade with points and paying for it is just crazy money.

The last time I flew to Manchester it was on the United flight through Newark (which was a last minute, run to the gate change from a United flight unto London). On that connecting flight through Newark I had no food other than a cliff bar and a short stack of Pringles from dinner the night before until the transatlantic overnight flight. I was traveling with two six month olds and my son managed to wet through his diaper, pajamas and my shirt. And United managed to leave all of our luggage in Houston and it took about 2 days to catch up with us.

I'd gladly sit in the back of the Singapore plane for a nice direct flight.

Twin babies on an international connecting flight? You're brave.

We originally were going to fly direct into London because of the babies and then drive up to Liverpool. We were at the airport super early (again because of the babies) when they canceled the afternoon flight and rebooted my wife and I (and her mom) on the evening flight all sitting in random middle seats. Her dad got bumped to the flight the next morning.

We scrambled to get onto the Newark flight to go straight to Manchester which ended up working out better. Her parents had to connect through Chicago and ended up about 12 hours behind us. Mess.

ChipFTAC01 said:

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The two clubs that I'd really like to see back in the PL are Wednesday and Forest. We could boot out Cardiff and Brighton. Maybe swap another Midlands team in as well. Either West Brom or Villa.

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Leeds and Blackburn Rovers are the two I want back only because they were both great teams when I was a kid. I've always cheered for Liverpool but Leeds was so fun to watch before they fell on hard times. Imagine that team's fans if they could get back up to the EPL.

Wow brutal. Would have been particularly bad if they couldn't re seat you together. Could you imagine being alone in a middle seat with a baby next to some random people?

Our flight limit with kids is direct and under 3 hours until further notice.

To get this thread sort of back on track, anyone with the ability to do so should make the pilgrimage to a derby, their team's home game, and really any EPL game you can get to when you have the chance. The experience is fantastic and like no other.

Here's a good Bill Simmons article from about 14 years ago on Choosing a EPL team that I still think is a good read...

http://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060719

OregonAggie said:

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ChipFTAC01 said:

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The two clubs that I'd really like to see back in the PL are Wednesday and Forest. We could boot out Cardiff and Brighton. Maybe swap another Midlands team in as well. Either West Brom or Villa.

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Leeds and Blackburn Rovers are the two I want back only because they were both great teams when I was a kid. I've always cheered for Liverpool but Leeds was so fun to watch before they fell on hard times. Imagine that team's fans if they could get back up to the EPL.

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I think Leeds has looked good to start this year. They dominated Derby this weekend.

If you want to get in on the ground level of a club that has big ambitions think about Wolves. They are not your typical newly promoted team. They aren't going away anytime soon. Otherwise, I'd stick with a Big 6/7 club for the accessibility.

Liverpool is the answer. They are fun to watch, great fans, and rich history.

Arsenal would be my second choice.